News
Grandmother Spider May 17, 2015 17:44
This morning I watched a beautiful corn spider sitting in the middle of her web in our front garden. She waited patiently among her carefully arranged silken cords, her intricate yellow and black coloring contrasting sharply with Hosta leaves and white rhododendrons.
To the Hopi, Grandmother Spider is an earth goddess. To the Cherokee, she is a bringer of light. Ancient Egyptians believed that the spider was a spinner and weaver of destiny. Grandmother Spider is Thinking Woman. What she thinks about, manifests, and we are all connected to this universal source of creativity.
Our lives aren't simply an assortment of random happenings. For each of us, there is an underlying pattern and design, and, to some extent, we have a little control over our lives. With our thoughts, with our actions and reactions, and with our words, we determine, to some degree, our future and our possibilities.
The word "bead" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "bidden" (to pray) and "bede" (prayer). We all have access to the creative silk that resides within us. Where will it lead us? We are constantly assessing and reassessing our lives, taking stock, making changes, making mistakes, making discoveries, correcting, and second-guessing, but in the end, it all leads us exactly where we were meant to go.
One bead at a time, one prayer at a time, one breath at a time, each moment is a small flash in time that eventually leads us to the larger picture.
This beautiful garden spider reminded me that everything is linked; everything is connected, whether you are stringing beads, stringing prayers, stringing thoughts, words, or numbers, we are the architects and designers of our own lives. As long as we are authentic, as long as we honor our own creative endeavors, as long as we work to build a life full of meaning, our lives will, in fact, be beautiful, interconnected, and meaningful. It takes trust, it takes courage, it takes forgiveness, it takes commitment, and it takes patience, but in the end, the larger picture is well worth the journey.
Recent Articles
Grandmother Spider Posted on 17 May 17:44
Tags
- All
- 108
- 2017
- 40 days
- abundance
- acknowledge
- action
- adaptation
- adventure
- affirmation
- agency
- Aham Prema
- allow
- alternatives
- anger
- anxiety
- Anyetsang's Little Tibet
- appreciation
- architects
- attachment
- attachments
- attention
- attracting customers
- authenticity
- awaken
- awareness
- balance
- beads
- beauty
- beauty in isolation
- beginner's mind
- beginnings
- being over doing
- being present
- benefits
- benefits of learning a new language
- benefits of mantra practice
- benefits of meditation
- benefits of memorization
- benefits of practice
- Blazing Mountain Retreat Center
- blessings
- Bloomington
- bolster confidence
- Brad Warner
- brain
- breath
- breathing
- Brothers Floor Covering
- Bruce Lee
- bullies
- business
- business advice
- business anniversary
- business plan
- business start-up
- busyness
- butterflies
- calm
- cancer
- Caroline Pfohl
- challenges
- change
- chant
- chanting
- choices
- cicada
- circuit
- clarity
- clean
- clinging
- clock
- Colorado
- common courtesy
- compassion
- compassion for others
- compassion for self
- confidence
- connection
- connection to nature
- consistency
- consistent practice
- conspiracy theories
- control
- cord
- corpse flower
- counter beads
- courage
- COVID-19
- creativity
- Crestone
- cult dynamics
- curiosity
- curiosity in learning
- custom malas
- Dalai Lama
- dealing with angry people
- dealing with distractions
- dealing with grief
- dealing with strong emotions
- dealing with turmoil
- dedicating merits
- dedication
- delayed cognitive decline
- delays
- destress
- detach
- determination
- detour
- detours
- Dharma Ocean
- Diane Bruni
- distractions
- diversion
- Divine Love
- Donald Trump
- ego
- empathy
- empower
- encouragement
- energetic vampires
- energy
- expectations
- Feldenkrais
- finding ease in your practice
- finding peace
- fire
- focus
- fog
- Fourth of July
- fresh perspective
- friendship
- frustration
- Gayatri
- gemstones
- generosity
- George Floyd
- Gerson Therapy
- Geshe Kunga
- give
- giving birth
- gradual progression
- Grandmother Spider
- grasping
- gratitude
- grief
- groove
- grow
- guru
- guru bead
- Guru Rinpoche
- H.H. Dalai Lama
- habits
- haiku
- harmony
- healing
- health
- health care
- healthy detachment
- heart
- Her Eminence Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche
- here and now
- illusion of control
- IMA
- imporved focus
- improve business
- improve focus
- improve space
- improved creativity
- improved neural plasticity
- improving cognition
- improving concentration
- Indiana University
- individual
- individuality
- inspiration
- intention
- interconnection
- interdependence
- interruptions
- intuition
- investigate
- Jacqueline DuPre
- japa
- japa practice
- Joe Webster
- journal
- journey
- joys
- junior high
- kirtan
- knots
- knotted
- Kurukulla
- Lakshmi
- learn
- learning
- lessons
- letting go
- life
- life's path
- link
- lists
- Luna
- making room
- making room for now
- mala
- malas
- managing stress
- manipulate
- mantra
- mantra practice
- mantras
- Marie Kondo
- marker beads
- Matthew Remski
- meaning
- meditation
- meditation retreat
- memorization
- mental agility
- mental flexibility
- mentors
- meru
- metaphor
- Middle Moon Malas
- mindful
- mindfulness
- Mindrolling Lotus Garden Retreat Center
- mistakes
- moth
- Mother's Day
- mountain bead
- movement
- moving on
- music
- narcissists
- navigating
- navigating life
- Netflix
- new language
- new year
- New Year's resolutions
- nourish
- observe
- obtacles
- offer
- offering dedications
- offerings
- Om Mani Padme Hum
- online business
- open heart
- opportunities
- optimistic
- orange
- orchestra
- ordinary
- outlook
- pandemic
- patience
- patterns
- pause
- peace
- perseverance
- personal practice
- pizzazz
- playfulness
- poets
- practice
- practice in times of uncertainty
- prayer
- preferences
- presence
- present
- present moment
- process
- procrastination
- productive confusion
- public practice
- puppies
- purashcharana
- Pure juicer
- purge
- purify
- purpose
- QOR360
- quarter mala
- question
- quirky
- Rachel Bernstein
- racism
- recalibrate body and mind
- receive
- recharge
- recite
- reclaim power
- reconnect
- reflect
- relax
- releasing expectation
- remain present and grounded
- renew
- renovate
- repetition
- resolutions
- restore
- restring
- retreat
- revision
- right intention
- right plac
- right time
- road trip
- roots
- rudraksha seeds
- rut
- sadhana
- Saga Dawa
- Samuel L. Jackson
- sangha
- Sanskrit
- savor
- savoring
- SCORE
- self
- self-acceptance
- self-awareness
- self-care
- self-doubt
- selflessness
- serve
- setting boundaries
- setting intentions
- seventeen syllables
- sharpen mind
- side-effects
- significance
- Significance of Tassels
- silence
- silk
- slowing down
- Snakes on a Plane
- social distancing
- somatic meditation
- soothing
- Sounds True
- spider
- spiritual log
- spiritual practice
- start small
- stress-management
- string
- success
- sudden hearing loss
- summer
- support
- surviving abuse
- sutra
- synchronicities
- taking rests
- Target
- tassel
- teacher
- teachers
- tendencies
- The Great Conjunction
- The Rolling Stones
- Tibetan
- Tibetan Language Institute
- Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center
- Tiger Eye
- time
- TMBCC
- toxic people
- tradition
- traditiona
- traffic
- transformation
- transforming fear and pain
- triggers
- trust yourself
- tulsi
- understanding
- unexpected
- unexpected surprises
- United Way
- Unity
- unplug
- Vajrasattva
- variety
- Venerable Lozang Yonten
- vibration
- vision
- vulnerability
- walking meditation
- Wall Street Journal
- we are all connected
- weavers
- Winter Solstice
- wisdom
- yoga
- YouTube
- zabuton
- zafu